it's my kind of latte. try the simply delicious latte everyone can enjoy. america runs on dunkin'! good morning. now it's your turn. america heads to the polls today to choose who will be in the white house for the next four years. president obama and governor romney neck and neck after waging the most expensive political campaign in u.s. history. will it be a long night that stretches into the morning? it's up to the voters today, tuesday, november 6th, 2012. from nbc news, this is a special edition of "today," election day 2012, with matt lauer and savannah guthrie live from democracy plaza.

and welcome to "today," and democracy plaza on this tuesday morning, election day 2012. good morning, everyone. i'm savannah guthrie. >> and i'm matt lauer, and it seems like we've been talking about this day for the better part of two years because we have been talking about this day for the better part of two years. it's already here. seeing a lot of traffic at polling sites all across the country and especially in the swing states n.virginia, for example, people actually camped out overnight to be among the first in line. >> president obama is spending his day in chicago where he voted early two weeks ago. he's planning to do some satellite interviews to reach voters in the battleground states and will take part in his traditional election day basketball game. >> as for governor romney, he'll begin his day voting in massachusetts before making some last-minute campaign stops in ohio and pennsylvania. how are the candidates feeling this morning? we'll talk to top advisers from both of the campaigns coming up straight ahead.

>> but we want to start with the state of the race today and a final snapshot of this contest from the polls, and this is the most up-to-date national poll we have, president obama holding a three-point lead over governor romney, but, of course this, race will be decided tonight state by state, and perhaps the most prized state among them, ohio, where president obama's advantage among likely voters has shrunk to just one point, according to this poll. >> take a look at new hampshire, governor romney trails the president among likely voters there, but there's good news for governor romney. among independents, a sizable 14-point lead, and the results are already in for one new hampshire town. residents in tiny dixville notch began voting at midnight, that's traditional. five votes for the president and five for governor romney. again, this could be a very long night. >> so what are they saying about this race in the swing states where it matters? wisconsin's "journal sentinel" reports chilly, rainy forecast could affect voting. milwaukee-area voters could face the coldest election day in more

than 30 years, and "cincinnati enquirer" says it all. costly campaigns have come down to ohio. the campaigns have spent almost $2 billion so far this election making a combined 68 visits to ohio alone. >> all right. we have both campaigns covered this morning starting with governor romney. nbc's peter alexander is in belmont, massachusetts. peter, good morning to you. >> reporter: matt, good morning to you. at this time tomorrow mitt romney will either wake up as president-elect or return to life as a private citizen. he'll be here in a short time. this is his polling site in belmo belmont, here with his wife ann and returns to the campaign trail today. aides say he'll thank volunteers and try to motivate supporters in two key states, ohio and pennsylvania. on the eve of the election mitt and ann romney enjoyed a rock star's welcome in the granite state. >> thank you, new hampshire! >> tomorrow your votes and your work right here in new hampshire will help me become the next

president of the united states. >>. >> reporter: after a six-year quest for the white house, the office now potentially within reach, mr. romney cast his campaign as a shared movement. >> this is much more than our moment. it's america's moment of renewal and purpose and optimism. we have journeyed together far and wide in this great campaign for america's future, and now we're almost home. one final push, and we'll get there. >> reporter: earlier during an interview on "monday night football" romney joked about the red sox and patriots championships during his term as massachusetts governor. >> hey, look, as a governor, you get blamed for everything that goes wrong, you might as we'll get the credit for what goes right. >> reporter: romney advisers insist turnout will be key, but with polls showing the president clinging to an ever so slight advantage in the campaign's precious days mr. romney squeezed in five event in four battleground, each one strategically selected.

from the affluent suburbs of northern virginia. >> i'm looking around to see if we have the beatles here or something that brought you, but it looks like you came just for the campaign, and i appreciate it. thank you. >> reporter: to central ohio. governor romney punctuated his long journey with a simple message. >> let's make sure that everyone we know gets out to vote on tuesday. >> reporter: and this hopeful promise. >> this nation is going to begin to change for the better tomorrow. >> reporter: and the romney campaign is exceedingly confident. they cite polls that show them ahead with independents, and they say they have a more motivated base right now so they are confident tomorrow morning they will be declared victors. >> peter alexander, thanks. let's go to nbc's kristen welker at president obama's campaign headquarters in chicago. kristen, good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning to you, savannah. president obama arrived here in his hometown of chicago overnight. he's staying in his own home. later today he will watch returns in a hotel with family

and friends and his closest advisers, many who say this is a moment filled with anticipation and nostalgia. with an eye on his future, president obama reached back to the past. >> i've come back to iowa one more time to ask for your vote. >> reporter: the first lady by his side, the president held his final campaign event in iowa, the state which gave mr. obama his first 2008 victory launching his improbable and historic journey. an emotional night even for a president known for keeping his cool. >> when the cynics said we couldn't, you said yes, we can. >> reporter: it capped a frenetic final day of campaigning with mr. obama traveling more than 1,000 miles to defend the midwest states he's expected to need for re-election, iowa, wisconsin and critical ohio. >> when you're making this choice, ohio, you have to remember that this isn't just

about policy, it's also about trust. >> reporter: with the election so tight the president has made every second count in this final push stopping by a campaign office in columbus, making last-minute phone calls urging his supporters to turn out. >> we'll bring it home tomorrow. let's keep it going. >> reporter: and even appearing on "monday night football." >> in politics it's not winning elections, it's making sure that you're delivering for the folks who sent you. >> reporter: and while his top surrogates stormed the battleground states, some of the biggest names in entertainment also lent their voices, from jay-z. ♪ if we go for four more years >> reporter: to bruce springsteen who admitted he was rattled by that dismal first debate. >> actually the first debate really freaked me out. >> reporter: and now after four years in office and months of intense campaigning. >> it's out of my hands now. it's in yours. >> reporter: and you're looking at a live shot now of greenville, delaware, where vice president biden is expected to

vote any minute now. this is the band room of dupont high school. now, mr. obama became the first president to vote early. he did that several days ago. vice president biden will eventually join president obama later today to watch the election returns. savannah, the president has an election day tradition which is to play a game of basketball with his closest friends and advisers, and i'm told he's hoping to fit that tradition in today. savannah? >> kristen welker in chicago, thanks. this race is expected to be determined by the slimmest of martins. chuck todd is nbc's political director and chief white house correspondent, and this morning he's mapping out what he calls the nightmare scenario that could drag the election into the days and weeks ahead. chuck, good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning, savannah. >> yesterday i promised you could show us what would happen in the teeny tiny possibility that there is that we'd have a 269-269 tie. >> reporter: let me show you how possible it is. all the president has to do is carry pennsylvania, ohio, new

hampshire and wisconsin, and then you put iowa, florida, north carolina, virginia, colorado and the tiny state of nevada in mitt romney's column, and that's how you get it. it's not very implausible, and, yes, we know that right now the president seems like a favorite in nevada, and that's what makes this less likely than what most folks think, but between that and don't forget you've got congressional districts in nebraska and maine. the point is if you remember how we started this campaign which was the state of iowa decided by eight votes between rick santorum and mitt romney and then oh, by the way the results flipped two weeks later, i've always worried that that was foreshadowing this nightmare scenario. >> as you talk to us, chuck, i want to note that vice president biden is waiting in line to vote in delaware this morning. we'll keep an eye on that as you and i continue to talk.

>> reporter: speaking of vice president biden. under this scenario and people are wondering if you don't get to 270, this would go to the house, so the house would elect the president. the senate would elect the vice president, so under this scenario your most likely outcome romney/biden. >> then we'll know we're in an alternate reality. chuck, let's move on to florida. if it came down to florida being the deciding state, how might that play how the? >> well, here's the issue with florida right now, and this has to do with election challenges, and i'll just put it here to center it up a little bit. there were two big issues in the state of florida this year that came up. one is in palm beach county where 60,000 absentee ballots were mailed out with a misaligned ballot. it had to do with judges this. isn't like the butterfly ballot from 2000 and about the presidential. it's about another election, and if you fed it in the wrong way into the machine, the entire ballot would be a provisional, and i cite this number, 60,000. they think they have fixed it, but if florida is decided by less than 60,000 votes, you

could see, and it's palm beach county, particularly if it's the president that's behind, could you see a legitimate election challenge to a court that says, hey, wait a minute, count these votes. they also changed the rule about absentee ballots and signatures, and if your signature doesn't match, they put you in a provisional column. they had a 3% signature not matching rate in the first election that they did this in in orlando. it could create a lot of problems. >> i know ohio is potentially a tight one, too. we'll talk about that a bit later on. we want to take a turn now and check in with robert gibbs, a senior adviser to president barack obama's re-election campaign. good morning to you. >> good morning, savannah. how are you? >> good, thank you. governor romney is campaigning in ohio and pennsylvania and president obama is not out campaigning today, though he did on election day four years ago. is that a sign of confidence or perhaps overconfidence? >> no. i think we felt the president would have a better reach to sit here and do some satellite interviews into states and make sure that the folks that we have

out getting out our vote in important states aren't burdened by having to support him coming into their state today, so i think we feel like we've got a great opportunity for the president to speak with still undecided voters in those nine battleground states today. >> let's look back at the campaign that was. it is undeniable, a key part of the obama campaign strategy was to discredit and disqualify governor romney from the outset. 85% of the president's ads were negative as of late october. for a president that was voted in four years ago on the promise of a new kind of politics, did he turn to the old kind of politics to win a second term? >> no, savannah. i think each election is a choice. it's a choice between two very different and competing visions, and i think we wanted to make sure that the american people understood the president's vision of continuing to build this economy from the middle out, and governor romney's vision of tax cuts showered on the wealthy in hopes that somehow that would lift the middle class despite the fact

that that was what was exactly got us into this economic calamity. >> for people going to the polls today, people who are considering re-hiring the president for four more years, there is a feeling that they want changes. in fact, our recent poll had 62% of americans saying they want major changes in a second term, even voters who support the president want to see that he has learned something and knows where to improvement can you tell us where exactly he would plan to be -- to improve in a second term. >> well, look, i think we've still got a lot of work to do obviously to get our economy moving, continue to move this economy in a forward direction. we've seen positive job, you know, 32 consecutive months. but, look, we've got more work to do. we've got to bring more jobs back overseas and manufacturing jobs. >> is there something he's personally learned about the job? >> oh, look, i think -- look, he learns things every day, savannah. i think he's got to -- look, i think one of the things that each side is going to have to do

is work together in order to get things done. we've got to break this washington gridlock. we've got to break this notion that somehow, you know, particularly on the republican side in congress that, you know, compromise is a dirty word or somehow if they don't get everything they want they can't work at all with this president. i think the president is eager to sit down and solve problems with democrats and republicans and move this country forward. >> robert gibbs, we're out of time. got to leave it there. thank you for being with us this morning. >> thanks for having me. >> and now here's matt. >> savannah, thanks. ed gillespie, is senior advisers to mitt romney's campaign. ed, good morning. good to see you. happy election day. >> good morning, matt, happy that it is election day. >> exactly. this has been a six-year quest for governor romney. i'm sure the campaign and the candidate have crosses the ts and dotted the is and talked about every possible scenario. ed, what kept you awake last night? what are you most worried about?

>> actually i slept pretty well last night. we feel really good. we have momentum at the end of this campaign. governor romney's positive, uplifting message has resonated i think. his plan to turn around our economy and create 12 million new jobs. we see incredible intensity on the part of our voters, and we're leaving nothing on the field, matt. you'll see the governor out there today campaigning in cleveland, ohio and pittsburgh, pennsylvania, and we're -- we're looking forward to tonight. >> let me ask you about ohio. you talk about that state. obviously all eyes on ohio. back on october 25th the governor employed a rather dramatic strategy there talking to supporters he said that he had read that, quote, jeep is thinking of moving all production to china. he followed that with some ads that talked about chrysler and gm's plans to expand production in china. the reaction was swift and unanimous, ed. they were painted as misleading by independent fact-checkers. ohio newspapers said they were

an exercise in deception, a masterpiece of misdirection, and chrysler and gm called them inaccurate and campaign politics at its cynical worst. how could this happen to the guy who is the son of a car-maker and the car who is supposed to have the business resume? >> well, matt, the fact is the ad is accurate. the head of fiat came out and said that they were going to open production in china for jeep. that's what the ad says, and that's accurate. look, if you care about the auto industry, you need to vote for mitt romney and the governor has a great record. >> they are opening production for jeep in china because they are expanding markets, not because they are shipping jobs overseas which seemed to be the message of the ad. >> no, that's not the message. the message of the ad is they are opening production in china. right now the jeeps that are sold in china are made in the

united states. there was an original bloomberg report that said that they were going to close the plant and shift jobs to china. that turned out not to be accurate but they said they would open jobs in -- open production in china. we're currently shipping to china from the u.s. exporting there. this ad is accurate, and the fact is if you care about the auto industry, you care about creating 12 million jobs in this economy, you care about creating demand for domestic auto production, we don't have that in our economy today, matt, and governor romney would turn this economy around, have rising incomes for people who have seen their incomes drop by $4,300 over the course of the obama presidency. that would do more for the american auto industry than anything, but ad is accurate, and we stand by it. we know that the truth hurts sometimes, but it's the truth. >> real quickly on election day, often candidates get nostalgic and sentimental about the things they have seen as they traveled the country over the last year. what do you think governor romney's major takeaway is going

to be? what are the images that are going to last most for him? >> i think a number of them. one, small business owners who have told him that they are going to have to close, family businesses. one woman in richmond, virginia, has closed a restaurant that has been in her family for 82 years as a result of the excessive regulations and taxes and obama care and the obama economy, single mothers who have come up to him and said i'm working two jobs because the pay, i can't get a full-time job and the pay for these jobs is so low. we've heard from countless americans, and it's -- the pain that you hear out there in our economy is real, matt, and it's something that he is so anxious to get into the white house, turn things around and fix the economy and get rising incomes for people so they can have a sense of economic security. >> all right. ed gillespie, a senior adviser to the romney campaign. going to be a long day, ed. thank you for your time this morning. >> we want to take a turn and

show you a live picture. this is greenville, delaware, where the vice president is now entering the voting booth. his wife, dr. jill biden, is also there in line with him as they vote. i should tell you that governor romney is expected to vote at 8:30 this morning. he'll do so in belmont, massachusetts. congressman paul ryan will cast his vote in his home town of janesville, wisconsin at 9:45 eastern, and as we know, matt, president obama cast his vote early in chicago last week. i guess it's just that fast. >> we saw the vice president in line earlier. imagine the pressure on the woman in front of him online as they were standing there discussing the vote today. i wonder if she was completely honest with the vice president. >> well, we're going to have more on the election throughout this morning. we want to remind everybody that nbc's election night coverage begins at 7:00 p.m. eastern. that's 4:00 pacific time right here on nbc. >> let's get to the other headlines of the morning. natalie is across the street at the news desk. natalie, good morning to you. >> good morning, matt and savannah. good morning, everyone. more than 1 million homes and

businesses are still in the dark today as new york and new jersey struggle to recover an superstorm sandy. this as dropping temperatures and a new storm bear down on the region. a nor'easter is set to slam the area on wednesday. meantime today, state officials are working to ease the voting process for displaced people, allowing voters in emergency zones to use any polling station they can access. prosecutors at joint base louis mccord say sergeant robert bales went on a killing spree in two afghan villages last march, after drinking with soldiers, watching movies about revenge killings and discussing a friend who lost a leg in a recent attack. he's accused of carrying out one of the worst war atrocities in the last 16 years and faces 16 counts of pre-meditated murder. the 39-year-old has not entered a plea, but attorneys say he has post-traumatic stress disorder. for the first time video was shown of bales surrendering, taken by surveillance. now let's head to wall street.

cnbc's mandy drury is at the new york stock exchange. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. with this nail-biter of an election the markets will watch which sectors would most benefit. stocks doing weather with romney in the white house have been outperforming but yesterday there was selling in sectors if president obama remains in office, including banks, because he's tougher on bank regulations. >> mandy drury, thanks. a rough landing in texas caught on tape. a student pilot trying to touch down at a local airport clipped the top of an suv driving on a road near the runway. the driver and his passengers suffered only minor injuries. the pilot, meanwhile, was not harmed. the faa is now investigating the incident. all very lucky though. it is 7:21 right now. let's go back over to matt and savannah and al at democracy plaza. >> going to leave a mark, no question. natalie, thanks very much. hello, mr. roker. >> hey there, hey there.

talking about this nor'easter, an hopefully it's moving a little further east so maybe not quite as bad, at least rainwise. show you what we've got. strong winds developing, bands of waves and coastal flooding as this thing makes its way. storm surge all the way up into new england. windy conditions as well. coastal wind gusts, 50 to 60 miles per hour possible, and with it moving a little east, cold air coming in so we're looking at snow from caribou, maine, including new york, parts of long island, on into philadelphia. we'll have more details coming up. >> good morning. it will be a chilly day today. a mixture of sun and clouds. high temperature near 50

>> and that's your latest weather. savannah. >> all right, al. thank you. just ahead, much more from democracy plaza. jenna bush hager talks about the surprising thing her mom did while waiting for the

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. it's not just about the white house. some other key races to watch today. >> after your local news.

>> this is wbal-tv 11 news today in baltimore. >> good morning. i am stan stovall. baltimore city fire crews are still on the scene of a fire in fells point. the flames caused the rear portion of an abandoned grocery store to collapse. it began at 4:30 this morning. no injuries have been reported. 11 news has learned that this fire is in the same side of a five-alarm blaze in june of this year.

let's check with sarah caldwell and traffic pulse 11. >> we are tracking closures on broadway between eastern and fleet. watch for those to impact your right through fells point. belair road, we're tracking an accident. in addition to the broadway closures, watch for closures along eastern and flee. -- fleet. so far so good on 97 southbound. in the northbound direction, watch for some debris in the road. 95 the south of the beltway northeast, coming towards us, southbound traffic building, but not seeing the delays we normally see from one month to the beltway. lake huron the west side from security boulevard to baltimore national pike -- light here on the west side from security boulevard to baltimore national pike. >> weather should be nice and

quiet for voting today. we don't expect precipitation. temperatures are in the upper 20's and low 30's. 34 at the airport. forecast for today, a mixture of sunshine and clouds. high temperatures climbed into the upper 40's and low 50s. we are still watching this storm come off the coast. most of the computer models are further east. minimal impact around baltimore. baltimore.

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. it is 7:30 now on a tuesday morning, november 6th, 2012. that makes it election day, and as you look down at democracy plaza we urge you to get out and vote. whatever time of the day you can. polls are open in many states already. they will continue to open as the time moves out west, and, again, expecting hopefully good turnouts, though a lot of people in the east worried about the aftermath of hurricane sandy and how that might impact voter turnout. at democracy plaza, i'm matt lauer alongside savannah guthrie and just ahead we go live to four critical swing states that will go a long way towards deciding who will win this

presidential race. colorado, and as chuck calls them flova, florida, ohio and virginia. >> rolls off the tongue. the most influential group of voters today are women. will they turn out in record numbers? what are the issues on their mind? both campaigns have worked hard to woo women. we'll get into that. >> and the other major battle at the polls today, republicans trying to get control of the senate from the democrats. coming up, the high-profile rations that are too close to call as voters begin casting their ballots. >> but we begin this half hour with the all-important battleground states in the presidential race. to get a sense of how important and influential they are and how much more focused these states have gotten, we found an animation from npr and that tells the story. this is what the electoral map looks like, how it shock out in 2008, but here's how it looks if you take the states with the states with the most electoral votes larger. >> that's not the country i grew

up knowing. >> and here's what it's really telling. if you resize the states depending on how much money the campaigns spent on this campaign. it looks something like this. i hope ohio, florida, virginia, colorado jumping more off the page. let's talk more about that starting with nbc's john yang in cincinnati, ohio. john, good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning, matt. voting under way here in this battleground state, in this battleground county in the battleground state. ohio has picked the winner in every election since 1964. no republican has won the white house without it. already about 1.8 million votes have been cast in early balloting. those ballots will be the first to be counted tonight. it should give us a good idea of how the turnout effort on both sides has been going. matt? >> all right. john yang, i'll take it, and we want to head now to florida and nbc's kerry sanders in orlando along the all-important i-4 corridor, an area expected to determine who wins the state. kerry, good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning, savannah. polls open here at 7:00 a.m.

don't forget there are two time zones in florida. supervisors of election in the state say anyone in line at 7:00 p.m. and who has not yet voted will still be allowed to cast their vote. so far because of early voting there's been a tremendous turnout already in the state, 4.5 million people have voted in the state. here's the breakdown. 1.9 million registered democrats. 1.7 million registered republicans, but remember, of course, that doesn't mean they necessarily voted the party ticket. one issue that resonates, especially in south florida is the question of israel. jewish voters traditionally are registered as democrats, but rabbis have been asking questions it their congregations about the president's commitment to israel. florida has the second largest jewish population outside of new york. there are 12 million registered voters in florida. both campaigns have spent a record $192 million to try to win their votes. the prize here, 29 electoral votes. savannah? >> kerry sanders, thank you.

>> all right. let's go to colorado now. nine electoral votes up for grabs in that state and nbc's kristen dahlgren is in centennial this morning. good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning, matt. the candidates have been here dozens of times over the past few months. president obama won colorado by 9% back in 2008, but this could be a very different story. all of the polls within the margin of error. now, most coloradoans have already voted in early voting. we can't tell you the count, but we can tell you the breakdown, that is 37% of voters so far have been republican, about 35% have been democrats, and that leaves some 28% with no party affiliation, so this could come down to those voters and who they choose, and also who the different sides can get out in their core base today. polls open here at 7:00 a.m. mountain time, and they have made contingency plans to keep the election offices staffed late into the night if the count goes late tonight. matt? >> all right. kristen dahlgren in colorado,

thank you. >> and last but not least the battleground state of virginia. let's go to nbc's tom costello. good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning. what was heartening was to see people lined up here at 3:30 in the morning when it was dark, and they were here at 6:00 in the morning when the polls finally opened. we had 600 people or so in line. we can tell you virginia and its 13 electoral votes are critical, and this county is going to be a key county to watch, henrico as well as the northern virginia counties in fairfax, louden and also prince william. i also want to show you how important the state is because yesterday we had last-minute visits again by vice president biden and also by governor romney. in total the candidates have made more than 90 trips here to virginia. this state used to be reliably republican, and then it voted for obama in '08. it has been purple ever since, voting for a republican governor, and right now the polls have a single point spread between president obama and governor romney with obama

ahead. how will the state turn out? it may be a nail-biter. guys, back to you. >> a lot of eyes on virginia tonight. tom costello, thank you. >> interesting little tour of the country there. let's get a check of the weather on election day now from al. >> and we're down here on our prometheus stage and tamron hall is going to be down here, and she's got this touch screen. it's like what if, and can do all kind of neat things and then we're out over here, and here's, of course, prometheus. i can see matt and savannah, the back of their heads over there, so that's a great view as well. let's take a look and show you what we've got going on. as far as election weather is concerned, we do have a system making its way across the upper midwest, northern minnesota, rain and snow. it's going to be awfully chilly. wisconsin a big swing state. let's take a look and show you what we've got. we're liking at whinelander,

snow and 35. green bay snow showers, milwaukee a cold rain, 43 degrees and des moines, iowa, 53 and clearing, davenport 47 and some morning showers. that's what's going on around g >> good morning. things will be pretty quiet on this election day but things will be chilly. a mixture of sun and clouds. >> that's your latest weather. great being here. i want to get up on that thing. i want to get up on that and just kind of come sliding across democracy plaza. how great would that be, savannah? >> yeah do, that. definitely do that, al. we'll check back with you in a moment. >> okay. all right.

coming up next, critical senate races across the country to keep an eye on today, but first these messages. ♪ ♪

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know, is not the only big decision facing voters today. the balance of power on capitol hill is also at stake. nbc's capitol hill correspondent kelly o'donnell is in columbus, ohio with a look at some of the country's key senate races. kelly, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, matt. we're in franklin county where four precincts are casting their balance here and whether voters give president obama a second term or send mitt romney to the white house either man's fate is tied to power on capitol hill and especially which party will control the senate, and that battle has been fierce. massachusetts is the main event in a party tug-of-war. a staggering $76 million spent. >> good to see you guys, thank you for coming out. >> reporter: republican senator scott brown is widely considered popular and gets credit for working with democrats, but he's at risk. >> it's nice to meet you. >> you have my vote. >> reporter: pressure is on democrat elizabeth warren, a first-time candidate, former obama administration official

and harvard law professor to block republicans from taking enough seats to be in charge. >> a republican controlled senate is a senate bad for massachusetts and bad for this country. >> want to talk about gridlock, imagine when professor warren is down there. that's what people tell me. >> reporter: republicans expect to pick up seats held by retiring democrats in north dakota and nebraska but could lose a seat in maine after olimpia snowe bowed out. >> the fight over the senate is a very big deal, and it has not gone very well over the last few months for the republicans. >> reporter: that's because republicans were counting on red state candidates that turned into long shots. in missouri republican todd akin refused to quit after his comments about rape and pregnancy angered many women and fellow republicans. >> thank you very much. and, you know, i believe we have. we've had a few knocks. it's been turbulent flying, you might say. >> reporter: so once vulnerable

missouri democrat claire mcaskill is favored to keep her seat and in indiana republican richard mourdock saw his poll numbers say after saying god intended pregnancies that resulted from rape. former wrestling executive linda mcmahon has spent tens of millions of her own money trying to turn a connecticut seat for republicans. in wisconsin democrat tammy baldwin could become the first openly gay senator, up again former governor tommy thompson, and the most expensive senate race is in virginia, at $82 million. two former governors with democrat tim kaine polling ahead of republican george allen. and there are 33 senate races around the country, including one here in ohio, and republicans would need to pick up three or four seats to get control. democrats are expected to be able to hold on. in the house of representatives democrats would need to pick up 25 seats, so there is less

suspense there. republicans are expected to keep control of the house of representatives. matt? >> all right, kelly o'donnell, thank you very much. david gregory is moderator of "meet the press" and steve schmitt is a former senior adviser to former candidate john mccain's campaign and taffies smiley joins us from pbs and dede myers, president clinton's former white house press secretary. good morning. happy election day. show of hands right now. raise your hand if when this matchup became clear this months ago that it would be president obama and governor romney, you thought we'd be sitting on election day with a dead heat on your hands. raise your hand if you thought that was the case. >> no? >> you did. >> you really thought it would be this close? >> i think the country is simply too polarized for it not to be. >> dede why do you think we got to the dead heat, sitting here today with this too close to call? >> i think david is right. the country is extremely polarized, and we always knew it would be a close race.

first time in a long time we've been sitting here on election day really not knowing what's going to happen. i think both candidates have strengths and both have weaknesses. you have a tough economy. you have a candidate in mitt romney who didn't define himself early enough and allowed president obama and his team to define him. strengths and weaknesses on both side but on election day i'd rather be arguing the metrics of turnout than the idea of momentum which the romney people are doing, even though we have no idea what's going to happen today. >> just quickly, you two didn't raise your hands. you thought this was going to be a route. >> i think there's two types of elections, change elections and stay the course, and i thought that it would have broken one way or the other before we got to today. >> taffies. >> i thought it would be close but not too close to call. both guys at one point had enthusiasm gaps on their phalanx. the president had an enthusiasm gap on his left flank and mr. romney with enthusiasm gap on the right flank. i knew the race would tighten up but didn't think it would be this close. >> steve, i'm giving you a charge. you're in charge of the transportation operation for the

romney campaign. who are you sending cars for this morning? who is the most important group to get out to vote for governor romney today? >> mitt romney needs to close the gap he has with white voters in ohio, and he needs to make sure that there's not a gender gap of 12, 13 points with women in places like virginia, ohio, new hampshire. >> taffies, you're in charge of the carpool for the obama campaign, who must you pick up and get to the polls. >> i would hate tomorrow morning for the president to wake up and found that he lost the election by the margin of black absence at the polls. when the race is this tight the base has to turn out. the african-americans who do go to vote, will vote for him. will that turnout be what it was off the charts four years ago. >> to add to that, it's not just african-americans, it's younger voters and latinos. the president has said if i get a second term, it will likely be because republicans didn't pay enough attention to latinos. mitt romney has said if they

don't improve standing among latinos we are doomed, his words, and the margins are huge right now for obama's advantage over romney among latinos. >> dee dee, talk to me about the role women will play in deciding this race. >> right. most undecided voters at this point are women, and women are breaking strongly for the president as they traditionally have. more importantly, 10 million more women will vote than men today so that is where the presidents is. i would look at single women in particular. they tend to be more undecided and tend to break heavily for president obama, and i think that's where this race in many ways will be decided. >> steve, oftentimes the day after an elects pundits sit around and the losing party they look at and say they have to start from scratch and rethink everything. which party stands to suffer the most long-term damage if they lose today. >> well, if the republicans lose, there's going to be a civil war that breaks out in the republican party. think about this. the last republican candidate who got over 60% of the white

vote, george herbert walker bush, over 400 electoral votes. mitt romney is going to get 60% of the white vote, that same margin. he's either going to win narrowly or lose the election. the country has changed fundamentally. we were at over 40% of the hispanic bush with george w. bush in 2004, and we're not able to get to 30% in this election and that's startling. >> the gop is toast in the most multi-cultural, multiracial and multi-ethnic america. they may win tomorrow but not long term. >> i started it with a show of hands. raise your hand if you think we will know who wins this race by the time we go to bed, and when i say go to bed, i don't mean the time you go to bed, 10:00, tonight when americans go to bed tonight, will we know who wins this race. if so, raise your hand. >> i don't think so. >> dee dee, you said yes. >> i think it all comes down to virginia. if the president wins virginia it's pretty much all over. there's no realistic path for

romney without virginia. >> all right. as i mentioned, you guys will be going to bed at about 10:00 tomorrow morning. good luck. >> all right. >> thank you. >> going to be a big day. david gregory, steve schmitt, tavis smiley and dee dee myers. the top campaign moments that became a little bit of fodder online, but first these messages. about really committing to making a difference in the amount of gas that we use. she was using 8 to 10 tankfuls. i was using 5 tankfuls. now i use one tankful a month, and she may use about two. it drives like a sports car. it handles very well. people are a little surprised that a hybrid zipped by them the way that i do. [ male announcer ] see phil's story and more at the camry effect. camry from toyota.

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>> this is wbal-tv 11 news today in baltimore. >> good morning. i am saramindy basara. here is sarah caldwell. >> closures in the fells point area could set you back a few minutes on broadway. kenwood avenue and avenue, we have an accident. another one and dogwood road and ankle ave. these delays are starting to fall into place. outer loop from 70 down into 40, you will find delays. 14-minute travel time on the

west side. live what the traffic it 83 and padonia wrote. delay-free, and it has been all morning. here is what it looks like a security. delays start to develop an i-70. that is the latest on traffic pulse 11. >> weather is nice as well chilly side, and you will scrape frost off her wind chills, but you will not have trouble during the day today. 34 at the airport. same thing in parkton. forecast for today, mr. of sunshine and clouds. 10 degrees below average for this time of year it should state dry all the way through the evening. this will be far off of for that

we get brushed by it. a mixture of rain and snow showers on wednesday and thursday. then it turned nice going into the weekend. 60s on sat

8:00 now on this tuesday morning, the 6th of november, 2012. election day across the country. got a lot of nice folks on the plaza this morning. we hope you get out there and vote. if you're in the northeast, bundle up when you do. just 34 degrees now here on deplaza. good morning, everyone. i'm savannah guthrie alongside matt lauer. just ahead, the group that could sway this election, women, particularly unmarried women. both president obama and governor romney spent a lot of time courting their votes, so who made the stronger case with that influential voting bloc? we'll get into that. >> then a woman who knows a thing or two about very close presidential campaigns.

we're going to talk to jenna bush hager about her family's campaign night experiences, and remember while a lot of us look at this as politics the candidates and their families look at this as personal. it impacts their lives dramatically. we'll talk to jenna about that. >> nice to get a perspective. from big bird to bayonets, the moment that caught fire online during this campaign season. >> but first a check of this morning's top stories with natalie morales over at the news desk. good morning. >> good morning, everyone. it is decision day as voters nationwide cast their presidential ballots. president obama wiped away a tear at his final campaign event in des moines iowa appearing at the rally with first lady michelle obama and rocker bruce springsteen. republican challenger mitt romney is keeping his campaign in full swing today as he heads to ohio and pennsylvania to make his final pitch. meantime in the first town to vote on election day, an unprecedented tie. the residents of dixville notch, new hampshire cast five votes

each for president obama and mitt romney, and you can catch all of your nbc election night coverage live from democracy plaza tonight at 7:00 p.m. eastern time, 4:00 p.m. pacific. a new storm threatening for tomorrow could increase the misery of east coast residents still recovering from hurricane sandy. about 1 million homes and businesses remained without power overnight as falling temperatures in the area reached the freezing mark. there is a potential breakthrough in using stem cells to help survivors of heart attacks. in a study of 30 patients in miami and baltimore, researchers said stem cells donated by strangers proved as safe and effective as the patient's own cells this. suggests that stem cells might be banked for off-the-shelf use after heart attacks similar to the way blood is now stored. the american arm of suzuki has filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and is leaving the car business. the california-based company says it will eventually focus on selling suzuki motorcycles and

boat engines. the japan-based arm of the company will not be impacted by the american group's restructuring. for a look at what's trending, our quick roundup what have has you talking online. actor and chanel pitch man brad pitt is turning his talents to furniture, pieces he co-designed including a bed and a cossey chair will debut this month in new york. pitt traces his knack for design to his love of architecture which he explored in college so he could apparently get out of french class. this vintage video of tom hanks shows the oscar winner prepping for his role as a stand-up comic in the 1988 film "punchline." hanks took the stage at the come instrip to rip at the time what was sylvester stallone's new arm wrestling movie over the top. >> arm wrestling competition. do you think stallone wins the competition by any chance? is this the most exciting thing to make a movie about, arm

wrestling? >> for the record, neither film set the box office on fire. and late night host jimmy fallon let his dog derry take a shot last night at predicting the outcome of today's election. >> she may not be voting for the same person that i am, by the way. in my family everybody gets their say, every vote counts except for derry. as of 2012, dogs are not allowed to vote. >> go. >> mitt romney. >> you must have not heard the story about romney tying his dog to the roof, but that's left. >> what a cute dog. jimmy jokes that he'll have the dog back for the recount. i guess it's a girl. let's go back out to al with a check of the weather. hey, al. >> all right. let's see what we've got for you. first of all, starting out we're talking about down in the southeast, florida. florida, florida, florida. may see some heavier showers and

thunderstorms forecast. it is going to be a little on wet side. thunderstorms, tampa, 76 an neighborles 76 degrees. 27 in tampa with thunderstorms as well and even up to the north, and as we head on up into the carolinas and virginia, we've got basically some afternoon showers in wilmington. otherwise looking pretty good throughout much of virginia. and as we look and see what's going on as far as that nor'easter is concerned, can you see it's going to be making its way up the coast. rain in the pacific northwest and rain and snow showers up to the upper mississippi river valley. sunny and hot with temperatures in the mid to upper 80s in southern california. mid to lower 90s through southern new mexico and on into parts of arizona. >> good morning.ing on it will be a chilly day today. a mixture of sun and clouds. high temperature near 50

>> and that's your latest weather. matt? >> all right, al, thank you very much. coming up next, the power of the woman's vote in 2012. will they decide who wins tonight? and jenna bush hager tells us about something unusual that her mother, former first lady laura bush did on election night 2000. hmm. right after this. if you are one of the millions of men who have used androgel 1%, there's big news. presenting androgel 1.62%. both are used to treat men with low testosterone. androgel 1.62% is from the makers of the number one prescribed testosterone replacement therapy. it raises your testosterone levels, and... is concentrated, so you could use less gel.

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the polls. the co-hosts of msnbc's "the cycle" joins us now. >> good morning, savannah. >> looking far to you battling it out in a few seconds. let's talk about the women's vote generally. seen both campaigns bend over backwards to woot women vote, whether it's in their ads, their speeches, we can all remember an romney saying i love you women at the republican convention. why is it a potentially decisive bloc of voters. >> typically because men outnumber the men at the polls. just in terms of the math it makes sense to go after women and there's a sense that women are up for grabs. they have been dissatisfied and unhappy with the progress on the economy and on the other hand upset with big extremism on the republican social issues. there's a battle there, and both sides are trying to get their message across. >> break it down further, s.e., unmarried women who are potentially the swing voters in this election. what does governor romney need to do to close the gap with them? >> too late, election day.

actually, i mean, as much as i agree that women are a valuable part of the electorate i don't think either side has really done a good job of courting women. i think on the left democrats have reduced women to reproductive rights and on the right i don't think romney has explained in great detail what his economic policies are and neither have began out of their way to address the issue which most women care about which is tax reform. i'm a small business owner. i'm a woman. i may have a family one day. would i love the tax system to be a little bit more simple, and neither candidate really talked about what they would do in terms of -- outside of expanding the bush tax cuts or not. >> how do you explain the fact that governor romney has made up some ground with women in our most recent polling? >> well, you know, i think when the gap was at the widest it was because actually democrats were talking a lot about things like the lilly ledbetter fair pay act. they were talking about women's health issues which are important to a lot of women, and that's not -- that's not reducing them down just to

reproductive rights, but that is an important issue that women are concerned about. during the debates, romney went above and beyond to portray himself as reasonable, as moderate, as someone what you shouldn't be scared of, who is not extreme. there wasn't a lot of talk about lilly ledbetter and the fair pay act and not a lot of talk about things like defunding planned parenthood, personhood amendments which are seen as very extreme so because he made that rhetorical shift to the center, i think women started to feel a bit more comfortable. >> s.e., you say they haven't really addressed women's issues and it's not all about reproductive rights, not the only women's issue but do you think some of the inpolitic remarks coming out of republican senate candidates have hurt the republican cause and potentially mitt romney in. >> absolutely. they were crazy statements, and democrats were very good at spinning them to make them look like representative of the party and representative of the presidential candidate, and they are not, of course, but then that put mitt romney and other republicans into damage control mode. they suddenly had to speak for

todd akin and mourdock and explain them away and provide some nuance to their -- to their statements. >> well, in actuality, while todd akin and his bizarre comments are not representative of the republican mainstream, the position on abortion, no abortion, no exceptions, even in the case of rain and incest, that is the republican party platform, and paul ryan in fact co-sponsored legislation with todd akin to redefine rape so to say it's totally -- >> not mitt romney's platform so it put mitt romney in a position to say that's not what i believe and now i have to explain for this guy and my party and tell you what i would do differently. it was a heavy lift for him. >> crystal and s.e.cupp who just prove the point just because you agree you don't agree politically. >> thank you very much. >> once again, yocoming up, whas

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tod "today" contributing correspondent jenna bush hager is no stranger to the hustle and bustle of campaigning. we'll talk to her about her experience as a candidate's daughter and this time she hit the trail as a reporter. >> not the real campaign trail. the non-stop campaigning has come to an end and we decided to how all things american politics trickled down to what's not in the spotlight. we went to the future politicians to get the answers. >> hold on a second. >> mr. president, i'm still speaking. >> reporter: in this election of contentious debates. >> you're wrong, mr. president. >> no, i'm not. >> reporter: stump speeches. >> we'll finish what we started. >> we're taking back this country. >> reporter: and constant campaigning we decided to go straight to the source, the political hot bed of, well, middle school. eighth graders maliki and tyler holder this fall hitting the trail. >> it was a lot of pressure because everyone wanted to have that position, so it was like we

were fighting for it. >> reporter: and after a grueling campaign these two newly elected officials worked to deliver the changes they promised. good school lunches. >> pro. >> reporter: school trips. >> pro. >> reporter: a lot of homework. >> against. >> yeah, against. >> reporter: school dances? >> pro. >> i am honored and privileged to address you today. >> reporter: just like other politicians. >> to be the best should be our ambition. >> reporter: this duo set the bar high. >> academically and the way the school looks and maybe more events for little kids, maybe more trips. >> i like pbs, i love big bird. >> reporter: with big bird taking a surprise guest starring role in this year's presidential election, we headed to the land of the true "sesame street" vote police zimmer's first grade class at watson elementary.

♪ election day is coming and we know all about it ♪ ♪ don't forget to cast your vote ♪ ♪ we want to hear your voice >> reporter: a hot button issue. >> you get to fill out your ballots. >> reporter: ten extra minutes of recess versus one night of no homework. >> it was a nail baiter and then pure elation. >> no homework. >> the celebration and some disappointment when the majority ruled. no homework. >> reporter: next week we traveled to the city of the founding fathers, the homeland of our constitution where students resorted to some sweet incentives to persuade kids to vote. >> it's just us trying to outdo each other, like if you bring in cupcakes today i'm going to bring in like bigger cup takes tomorrow. >> reporter: like leaders before them, these students take their roles seriously. >> i want to be that guy that

you just walk up to in the hallway and i say i need help. sure, man. let meet later, i'll talk to the teachers or something. >> reporter: the academy at columbo high school set up a mock election. >> the idea of taking something that politics is for adults, for people who are older and trying to change that idea. they are for everybody. >> i have a choice and i get to tell people who i want to vote for. >> reporter: when you turn 18, do you plan on voteing? >> yes. >> i tell my students that as they get older and they don't vote that when i'm a very old man and i pass on, that i will come back and haunt them. >> reporter: just hours after their own inauguration, the new leaders shed light on what they have learned from those who came before them. >> martin luther king, obama, people like that maybe can give you an idea that you can run. don't quit and just strive for your goals. >> reporter: these kids spoke about the importance of voting and their excitement of turning 18. and since the youth vote the

least represented group, it's really important that schools start teaching this habit and this right early. >> yeah. i'm happy to see that happening. mind giving us a little insight. we're going to watch this election as journalists and at citizens and as interested parties. you've watched several as a daughter and a granddaughter. what's the tension lik on election night when you're part of the family? >> it's hard. you know, i'm glad to be watching it as a citizen, i have to say, you know, because one thing i think we don't talk about enough in this country is politicians as humans, as fathers, as husbands, and both of the men tonight, you know, they are dads, and they are husbands and so for me watching my dad, you know, go through that stress, it's hard for the kids. >> let me go back even earlier. when your grandfather lost his bid for re-election were you in fourth grade. >> yeah. >> do you remember the disappointment? >> we were in houston and remember watching him and he's

my gampy and i remember watching him work so hard, that's what he wanted. i remember crying. i was a fourth grader. >> let's go forward to 2000, election to end all elections. how old? >> i was 18. >> that turned into not election night but election month basically. >> 36 days. >> going to the supreme court. how much tension was it? >> really hard and particularly hard for my mom because, you know, she -- we were 18 so we were off at college and kind of could go back to our routine of christmas break and then school, but it was hard for my mom to watch my dad, you know, go through this really stressful time. >> tried to keep normal in her life. there's this picture of her in 2000 in the governor's mansion in austin, texas doing dishes. >> cleaning. >> who can do dishes? >> my mom is like you where she has a little bit of an ocd issue. >> i knew i liked your mom. >> has a little bit of an ocd issue, when she's stressed she cleans. >> when your dad was running for re-election in 2004, was there

any -- also a tense night. was there any part of you that wanted it to go the other way so that you could have your life back completely? >> no, you know. i mean, i think maybe when we were 18 there might have been some of that selfishness when they told us he was running for president. barbara and i were shocked because we were college kids and we were most important, our freedom, but in 2004 we wanted him to be president. we'd witnessed september 11 as college students, and we wanted him to keep us safe, and, you know, we want what's best for your parents because they want what's best for you. both in 2000 and 2004, we went to bed. our whole family not knowing that he had been elected so i just hope we go to bed with a winner, for all the families' sake. >> nice of you to share this. >> sure. >> it's not something you do very often. you don't walk around the office and say let me tell you about my time in the white house. >> no, not much. >> thanks, jenna, i appreciate it. >> just ahead, more from here on democracy plaza on election day 2012 after your local news.

>> this is wbal-tv 11 news today in baltimore >. >> good morning. i am mindy basara. here is traffic pulse 11 and sarah caldwell. >> watch for broadway between eastern and fleet. those closures due to fire department activity. another one at murray hill road and walther ave. dogwood road, and what ave. in terms of delays, not doing all that bad. starting to see outer loop delays, but not as heavy as we normally see. creek live look at traffic.

we will update you on the delays. not that bad this morning. southbound 83 from padonia to the beltway. let's switch to a live view from security. outer loop delay beginning at security down towards edmondson. >> weather will stay nice and quiet on this election day. a few clouds coming in this afternoon. we don't expect precipitation. 33 in rising sun. the storm we've been talking about is starting to organize in the southeast part of the country. even if you go out to vote at 7:00 or 8:00 tonight, all that will stay away. high temperatures after the chilly start will only climb up 2 around 50 this afternoon. 10 degrees below average for this time of year. 40% chance in for a rain shower or snow shower. wednesday into thursday morning, it will be breezy and chilly,

with high temperatures in the 40's. >> another update at 8:56. so, maybe you're trying to figure out question seven.

well, let me give it a shot. if you're ok with marylanders spending five hundred and... fifty million a year gaming in other states, fair enough. but if you think we should keep that money here... add twelve thousand jobs, and generate millions for schools... well you should probably vote for question seven. because if it doesn't pass, all of this goes away. that's why the post called seven, common sense. but decide for yourself.

it's 8:30 now on a tuesday morning. it's november 6th, 2012. it's election day, and people are checking out democracy plaza here at rockefeller center. this, of course, is our election night home. and by the way, a week from today this place will be transformed into one direction plaza when the hottest boy band on the planet puts on a live concert. we are expecting huge crowds. the great part of this job.

one day we're covering a president for election and a week later boy bands on the plaza. bring your best sign. you'll have a chance to win concert tickets from the band. i'm matt lauer along with savannah guthrie and natalie morales from our perch here in democracy plaza. >> good morning again, everybody. we'll have the lighter side of this stimt tense presidential race. we'll talk about moments on the event that sparked viral videos and online trends and sometimes new vocabulary words. >> and on switching gears here, a very revealing interview with fashion icon donna karan, what she's doing to honor her late husband, the man she calls her inspiration. >> but first let's go over to al in another part of democracy plaza with a check of the weather.

>> and welcome here to democracy plaza. what democracy can't happen unless you have great caricatures and shelly is terrific. you're doing kind of a high-tech stuff. instead of on paper and using share cole, you're doing this electronically. >> yes. we're using a new windows 8 app called fresh paint and we're drawing with that to create caricatures for all these amazing citizens who have come out to vote on our election day. >> very cool. you did one of me there. actually kind of a mashup of me and barack obama there. >> i think someone said that earlier, yeah. >> all right. very cool. anybody else you've been working on. >> what we'll do today is add a little facial here to you because you're looking a little -- you're looking a little cold. >> you're going to give me a

stache for movember. >> can even give you hair if you like. >> i'll let you work on that. that's what's go >> good morning. things will be pretty quiet on this election day but things will be chilly. a mixture of sun and clouds. and that's your latest weather. come on down. shelly and a number of other folks doing a -- oh, look at that. that's not a lot of hair there. kind of charlie brownish, all right. thanks so much. back to you guys. oh, willard. willard, willard. >> i like birthday cake and

birthday ice cream and birthday buddies, and we've got birthday buddies right here on the smuckers hour. here is lee nelson from youngstown, ohio. 100 years old today. always greets people with a big smile and a big hug. i mean, he can hug a bear. ruth reeve from carmel, indiana. 109 years old today. secret to longevity is her faith and her friends. how about that. good old vincent rees, salt lake city, utah. i met my sweetie in salt lake city. 100 years old today. has traveled all over the world just to fish, the great salt lake. i wonder if it has any fish in it or not, i don't know. here is one of my favorite names in all the birthday lists, wally schweigh a u.s. er from nobleboro, maine, 100 years old today.

very talented artist. had an art show last month at 100. now, see, you can do it yourself. albert jackson, isn't that a good name, albert jackson from atmore, alabama, 109 years old today. loves praising the good lord and drinking dr. pepper. sometimes at the same time. gertrude, i love you gertrude linn from hermitage, pennsylvania. 103 years old, and she enjoys watching old tv shows and gardening. how about that. i like old tv shows. i was on old tv shows. now back to new york and a new tv show. >> all right, willard, thank you. coming up next from big bird to clint eastwood's chair, the campaign moments that had us all talking, but first, this is "today" on nbc. so, maybe you're trying to figure out question seven. well, let me give it a shot. if you're ok with marylanders spending five hundred and... fifty million a year gaming in other states, fair enough.

but if you think we should keep that money here... add twelve thousand jobs, and generate millions for schools... well you should probably vote for question seven. because if it doesn't pass, all of this goes away. that's why the post called seven, common sense. but decide for yourself.

and we're back now at 8:37 with more on this election day tweef. a few months ago you probably didn't give too much thought to things like big bird, binders full of women and bayonets. >> and they have become words and images that have sparked endless conversations online, not to mention many fake twitter accounts on the internet. willie geist is here with his top five meme. >> all understand what a meme is. >> something that takes on a life of its own. you'll see here when we start. number five, the top meme of 2012. binders full of women. both candidates were asked to do what they would generate gender equality in the workplace. this is mitt romney's response describing his time as governor of massachusetts. >> i went to a number of women's groups and said can you help us find folks, and they brought us a whole binders full of women. >> okay. so this took on a life of its own almost immediately. a twitter accoun

account @romney'sbinder and pictures started coming out. trapper keeper, i know you had a trapper keeper in high school. matt, did you have one of these? >> no, my generation. >> mine was a-team, what was yours? >> kitty cat. >> and right into the photographs. a dirty dancing picture that caught fire online. no one puts baby in a binder from swayze and the famous hillary clinton text blog put up romney still uses binders, lol. >> you're right this. happened like in minutes. >> instantly after that. >> that's the beauty of twitter, well, if you think it's the beauty. >> the beauty and the pain. >> also big halloween costume this year, women dressed in binders. all right. number four, horses and bayonets, at the last presidential debate. president obama had a line at ready when mitt romney questioned the wisdom of having fewer ships in the navy. >> you mentioned the navy, for example, and that we have fewer ships than we did in 1916. well, governor, we also have fewer horses and bayonets. >> they got 105,000 tweets per minute about horses and bayonets

on the night of that debate. >> you knew it was going to happen. >> knew it was coming, a parody blog went up almost immediately. some of the pictures we saw, obama riding a unicorn. unicorns are just horses with bayonets. a picture of romney's military was another one. also romney's foreign policy. now some fact-checking revealed later on that the united states marine corps has 175,000 bayonets. >> they still do. >> still exist. >> moving on to number 3, the little girl who spoke and wept for a nation, 4-year-old abigail evans finally got sick and tired of hearing about this campaign. >> i'm tired -- i'm tired of bronco bama and mitt romney. >> that's why you're crying? >> oh. it will be over soon, abbbe abb election will be over soon, okay. >> okay. >> and a new name was coined

bronco bama. >> not on the ballot. >> she lives in a swing state, right? >> yes. >> 12 million views on youtube at last check. abigail evans, her mother posted that. she had been listening to npr on the way to the grocery store and that's what prompted the tears. >> hilarious. >> so npr put out an apology. >> as they should have. >> on behalf of npr we apologize to abigail and all the others who probably feel like her. we must confess the campaign's gone on too long for her, too. >> agreement on that question. >> yes. >> now let's get to this. a tough choice between one and two. big bird, believe it or not, came up just short, going back to that first presidential debate. governor romney broke some bad news to the big yellow pbs icon when the candidate spelled out his spending cuts. >> i'm going to stop the subsidy to pbs. i'm going to stop other things. i like pbs. i love big bird. >> big twitter account, of course, @firebigbird and lots of

pictures, big bird sitting on the stoop saying will work for third and big bird in a depression-era line and big bird responded via the "sesame street" page saying my bed time is usually 7:45. i was tired yesterday and fell asleep at 7:00. did i miss anything last night? >> prompted a whole campaign from the obama side as well. >> it became a talking point. >> and the craziest think of all sexy big bird halloween costumes. >> i don't think that's possible. >> that's an oxymoron. >> time for number one. you guys ready? >> who chose these, by the way? >> an esteemed panel of experts. by that i mean me. number one meme of the 2012 campaign, it has to be eastwooding. clint eastwood created near internet hysteria when he read the riot act to an empty chair at the republican national convention in august. this was all over the place. basically captivated the internet. eastwooding became the new tebowing. people posting photographs online of them angrily pointing

at chairs, a man -- a dog pointing at a chair and then we had perhaps capping all of this, pee-wee herman talking to chair darby, the famous chair from "pee-wee's playhouse, and the final word came from the president saying this seat's taken. >> one of the most memorable moments from the campaign in the last election cycles. >> andrea mitchell called it afterwards exceedingly strange. >> but the romney campaign used clint eastwood in an ad in a campaign so they are sticking by their man. >> eastwood versus big bird, we'll see who wins. >> you mentioned governor romney. this is the scene apparently or was the scene just a couple of minutes ago. belmont, massachusetts, as governor romney headed into a polling site to vote on this election day. we have an idea who he voted for. we'll be back in a moment. this is "today" on nbc.

maryland, it's time. time for marriage equality. question 6 strengthens protections for our churches and guarantees the civil right to commit to the one you love. while there are those trying to divide us, presidents obama and clinton stand with us. pastors, business leaders, newspapers, democrats and republicans are all coming together for question 6. because it's about fairness-- treating everyone equal under the law. and who could be against that?

>> donna karan conjures up visions of high fashion but there's more to the woman behind the famous label. she has a remarkable story of love and loss and now a mission to carry on the legacy of her soul mate, the man who helped build her brand. here's nbc's kristen dahlgren. >> reporter: she is a force in american fashion. the name on a million labels. >> hello, brooklyn! >> reporter: best friends to barbra, she's recently dressed the icon for her return to brooklyn concert but donna karan's latest project is by far her most personal. >> it's taken me a while to put this all together. i don't want to cry, that's crazy. >> reporter: an art exhibit and companion book, the works of her late husband stephen weiss, most never seen outside their inner

circle. just a few in the public really knew the man behind the design superstar. >> where would donna karan be without him? >> wouldn't. wouldn't. stephen was my partner in business. but you're an artist, honey. what do you know about the fashion industry, but stephen knew everything. >> theirs is a love story. >> the minute i met stephen i knew he was it. you know, i met him when i was 18 years old. >> reporter: it was ten years later they would finally reconnect, join their lives, their families and together build one of the world's biggest labels, revolutionizing the way we dress, bringing easy uptown chic to women everywhere, as the label took off with done that karan and dkny she was called the queen of seventh avenue but never alone, stephen was at her side from every decision to launching a men's line to creating a fragrance. >> we cannot design clothes, hem lines go up and down but a

fragrance will last forever. >> reporter: stephens personally designed the perfume bottle but the pony-tailed artist handled the business side taking the company public in a massive deal. >> i love these pieces personally because they remind me the most of stephen. >> reporter: his creativity is clear in his art and somewhat quirky, he brought out the unexpected in the high-powered fashion mogul. >> every night we listened to obi-wan kenobi. >> reporter: he worked in an endless variety of medium, clay, paint, sculpture. >> shall i make a pair for the runway. >> reporter: look at that. >> this would definitely be donna karan. >> reporter: but the couple esteemed to have it all soon found out that stephen had lung cancer, and everything changed. he died in 2001, never living to see his larger than life series completed and leaving donna with a huge request. >> right before he passed away, he said, donna, whatever you do, take care of the nurses so i have a mission that i'm on.

>> reporter: the request inspired karan's urban zen initiative bringing help to hospitals and helping after the haitian earthquake but in putting together the art exhibit she found out how much she also inspired him when a love note never sent fell out of one of his sketch books. >> donna, thank you for finding me. when shy ship was disabled on this planet. you became my universe. >> reporter: a love story cut short but far from finished. >> i believe i am carrying out his legacy. i believe stephen is here every single day. i am connected with him more now than i've ever been. >> reporter: for "today," kristen dahlgren, nbc news, new york. >> the exhibit is called connecting the dots. it's open until december 22nd here in new york city. coming up next, everything you need to throw an election night party tonight, but first this is "today" on nbc.

this morning on requested today's kitchen" an election party plan. whether you lean to the left or the right tonight is the perfect time for a patriotic get-together. we have the director of "martha stewart living."

good morning to you. >> good morning. we have something for both sides of the aisle. great bipartisan dip because everyone loves it, can i just say one thing. if your neighbors are in need invite them over, especially in this tri-state area. >> absolutely. >> spinach artichoke dip. we have cream cheese in here, some artichokes which are canned and drained. >> canned artichokes. >> parmesan cheese, a little lighter weight than your big stick goopy dip. >> can you use low-fat cream cheese. >> if you want and lemon juice, garlic and cayenne. can you chop this if you don't have a food processor. >> that's about a glove of garlic. >> if this works we'll be really lucky. >> come on. >> and we want to get this really nice and completely smooth, all right? >> and how long would you do that? >> just until you look in and it's smooth and that's completely smooth. then we add the rest of the artichokes. we add some spinach, those are

the two stars of this recipe, the spinach and the artichoke. >> spinach you cooked. >> either cook it and drain it or you can defrost it from the freezer. >> got it. >> and then we have some scallions and that's it. completely it. what we do with this one is we just pulse it so we have chunks so it's nice. >> i think that answered my question. wondering why you saved some of the artichokes. >> because you want texture in here. >> and this is what you have ander is of it with crudite. >> i notice you have the red and blue, a nice touch. >> here we are in the two places that our candidates hail from. we have our chicago dogs, and to make a chicago dog it's -- they are so serious in that windy city about their dogs. you've got the pickle. you've got tomato. you've got some -- a little bit of onion and you need to have this relish, there's the thing. >> did you make that neon relish. >> you can buy it or you can make it, and then oh, darn. i don't have the squeeze bott. you've got to zigzag the mustard.

>> you do. >> this is so not chicago. >> how am i going to do it? >> listen, i'm doing it. i want to do them proud and a little bit of celery salt and you wonder why celery salt? >> i have no idea. that's the way they do it. >> that's the chicago. >> you toast the bun. >> with a little bit of poppy seed on it, too. >> okay. >> oh, i forgot the sport pepper. little peperoncini on top. >> you partial to any particular hot dogs or any will do in. >> the red hots is what you did and i boiled these with beef because i couldn't get my hands on red hot dogs. >> on the other side we have new england clam chowder. it's super easy, only a few ingredients. make a big batch and have your neighbors over ander is of it with a little garlic bread and to book end our bipartisan dip i felt like you could have some hard apple cider. apple is as american as apple

cider and then just have regular ciders. this is hard with punch to it and regular cider for the kid. >> chowder is great for a cold tonight, night. recipes on the website. >> super easy. chowder is so easy, really easy. new england clam choweder. >> thank you so much. >> thanks, savannah. >> find all the recipes on today.com. >> yes, can you. >> we'll be back with more of "today" right after this. >> are you going to try one? >> of course i am.

>> this is wbal-tv 11 news in baltimore. >> good morning. i am mindy basara the polls are officially open as marylanders make their voices heard. they will decide on several controversial issues such as expanded gambling, same-sex marriage. officials expect big turnout

today. the polls close at 8:00 tonight. the polls close at 8:00 tonight. the best times to well, let me give it a shot. if you're ok with marylanders spending five hundred and... fifty million a year gaming in other states, fair enough. but if you think we should keep that money here... add twelve thousand jobs, and generate millions for schools... well you should probably vote for question seven. because if it doesn't pass, all of this goes away. that's why the post called seven, common sense. but decide for yourself.

>> it is going to be a chilly election day, but we don't expect trouble. a mixture of sunshine and clouds. we expect chances for rain and snowed during the day tomorrow. >> thank